The high temperature today here in Dover NH, is somewhere around 60 degrees. Not wintertime by any means, but neither does it qualify as beach weather to most of us. Yet in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the high temperature is almost 20 degrees warmer, meaning that it is still great weather for walking on the beach, catching some sun, or building an incredible sandcastle. And a timeshare resale or timeshare rental at Marriott Timeshare’s Barony Beach Club could be a way for you to enjoy one last summer-like hurrah.

Marriott’s Barony Beach Club timeshare is a Hilton Head beachside getaway. It is also HOT 100 list property number 55 as an ‘in-demand’ timeshare resale and timeshare rental at Sell My Timeshare NOW. All of the timeshare units there are two-bedroom, two-bathroom villas, with a full kitchen, living and dining area, washer and dryer, and Jacuzzi tub in the master suite.

Many of the timeshare villas at Marriott’s Barony Beach Club have ocean views; others view one of several pools. The timeshare includes an indoor pool, a water feature pool, a garden pool, a whirlpool and a heated outdoor activity pool.

Any time you vacation in a Hilton Head timeshare you are surrounded by great golf courses to play, biking and jogging trails, places to kayak, as well as the Old South charm of nearby Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.

Affordable Luxury in a Marriott’s Barony Beach Club Timeshare Resale

But with the price of gas and groceries these days, along with all the other economic uncertainties, how can most people afford vacation ownership at Marriott’s Barony Beach Club timeshares?

Simple. Buy timeshare resales. Right now, there are more than 70 timeshare resales and timeshare rentals available for you to buy or rent from the current owner, in a range of prices, with many under $10,000—that’s $10,000 for a lifetime of worry-free ownership and annual vacations at the beach.

Oh yes, and about that sand castle you plan to build as soon as you get to Hilton Head … here’s a YouTube video of last year’s US. Sandcastle Open and other championship sand sculpture competition winners to inspire you.

Two favorite Mexico timeshares are HOT 100 list property number 58: the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta and HOT 100 list property number 59: the Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta.

The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta Mexico Timeshare Resort

The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta timeshare resort is located 12 miles north of the Puerto Vallarta airport, or about a 15 minute taxi ride. This luxurious Wyndham timeshare property offers a half-mile of beautiful Pacific Ocean beach, as well as some amazing on-property amenities, including a lazy river, a flume slide, and a wave pool.

One bedroom timeshare units include a living and dining room, sleep up to five guests, and are called Grand Suites, while two-bedroom timeshare units, also include a living and dining room, and sleep up to eight timeshare guests. These larger units are called Grand Master Suites. All of the timeshare units at The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta have either a private balcony or a terrace.

Many of the spacious guest rooms and suites of The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta timeshare resort include a Jacuzzi or plunge pool, satellite television and international direct-dial telephones.

The Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta Mexico Timeshare Resort

Slightly closer to the Puerto Vallarta airport (9 miles), is the Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta timeshare resort. All suites there consist of a kitchen, living room, and bedroom with a king size or two twin size beds. Adjoining rooms and suites can be combined as timeshare lock-outs to comfortably accommodate larger families. The Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta timeshare resort offers : Master Room timeshare units, Suite units and Master Suite timeshare units.

During your Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta Mexico timeshare vacation you can enjoy golf on a Jim Lipe course, recently redesigned by Jack Nicklaus Design group, and scheduled to fully reopen in 2009. (At least 9 holes will always be available for guest play during the redesign).

After a day on the beach strolling Banderas Bay or 18 holes on the course, schedule some time at the Brio Health Spa, where you can choose from a variety of services to restore and rejuvenate your body and spirit. A Mayan Mudpack or Mexican Mescal-lime-lemon aromatic treatment could be just the thing to help you forget about the demands of your daily life in these hectic and stress filled times.

As with all the timeshare resorts on the Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List, these two popular Mexico timeshares are available as right-priced timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

In the midst of much positive news about the stability of the timeshare industry and how, in many cases, timeshare sales seem to be anchoring the finances of major hoteliers, a timeshare leader, Westgate Resorts has announced company layoffs. According to an article that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, Westgate timeshare resorts will lay off hundreds of workers.

In an article that ran on Sept 29, the Orlando Sentinel says, “Company President David Siegel said Friday that Westgate is facing a financing squeeze that came on with the suddenness of a “heart attack.” He blamed the national financial meltdown and said until the situation in Washington straightens out, Westgate and all other time-share companies likely are in for very hard times.”

According to the article, timeshare sales will be shut down for some of the 28 Westgate timeshares, located in 11 US states, although Westgate timeshares’ founder, David Siegel did not comment on how many people would be effected or an exact date when the layoffs would begin.

Siegel sums up the situation like this: “Westgate is managing to pay all its bills and will continue to meet all its obligations. But he said there is no money for new business. We’re having a record year. We’re in the most profitable year in our history and the banks are freezing our money. So we have no choice. In order for our company to survive we’re going to downsize until the money starts flowing again.”

Westgate timeshare is currently the seventh largest employer in Central Florida, employing 8,113 people in Central Florid and more than 10,000 nationwide.

For more information about the history of Westgate timeshares and David Siegel’s skills at empire building, follow these links to past The Timeshare Authority posts:

• When The Economic Slump Hits Vegas, Even Casinos and Timeshares Worry
• Timeshare Resort Mogul Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment
• Timeshare Resort Mogul Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment - Part II

Did you see our Sell My Timeshare NOW press release today? We are celebrating a milestone - 5 years in business. Best of all, our anniversary marks five successful years in business, and that is not always easy to say in this day and age.

Our company currently employs 140 people, which is a long way from the 3 employees who started a home based business 5 years ago. With a 520.9 percent company growth rate, we currently average over $1 million daily in offers to buy timeshares or rent timeshares.

We are a Fast Growing Timeshare Resales and Timeshare Rental Advertising Company

What got us to this point?

A Timeshare Sales Company with Genuine Commitment

At Sell My Timeshare NOW, we sat aside a little time to eat some cake and talk about our accomplishments over the past five years. But after we all patted ourselves on the back, we went back to work. You see, we know that staying the best company in the business of advertising timeshare resales and timeshare rentals calls for continued hard work, and for us to never let our guard down.

And to all the many timeshare sellers and timeshare renters who have entrusted us to help them sell or rent timeshare, we owe it to them to keep our nose to the grindstone and our eye on the future.

Click here to read our full timeshare press release about Sell My Timeshare NOW’s fifth anniversary in business.

Timeshares Daily carried an article earlier this week titled, “Real Estate Industry’s Odd Duck is a Golden Goose Called Timeshare Resales.” The article looked at a recent The Today Show segment with Natalie Morales and real estate expert Barbara Corcoran, as well as included an interview with us, here at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Corcoran is a knowledgeable resource for information on real estate, having turned a $1000 loan from a friend into the real estate industry powerhouse, known as the Corcoran Group. In 1971, Corcoran sold her company for $70 million. The article notes that Corcoran refers to timeshares as, “…the odd duck of the real estate business.” But as the author points out, “…she wasn’t calling them an ugly duckling; Corcoran was simply pointing out that in the world of real estate, timeshares are different.“

Timeshare Sales are Different than Other Types of Real Estate Transactions

Sell My Timeshare NOW elaborated on Corcoran’s point, explaining that timeshare sales are unique in the real estate industry. Here’s an example to further explain what I was referring to in the Timeshares Daily article: imagine trying to sell your home by luring prospective buyers with promises of discounted vacations, tickets to theme parks and free dinners. If you did pass out these freebies to everyone who toured your home, you’d have a substantial out-of-pocket expenditure and you’d be looking to recoup this cost by marking-up the asking price of your home. The person who ultimately bought your home would bear the costs of all the free giveaways you handed out in hopes of attracting that one person who was ready to buy. And as odd as this sounds in terms of residential real estate, this is exactly how timeshare developers sell timeshare.

The person who buys timeshare new from the developer pays to cover the developer’s upfront marketing costs. But when timeshares reach the resale market, the playing field gets level. Timeshare owners looking to resell their vacation ownership property aren’t trying to make back what they initially spent to buy the timeshare; they are simply trying to sell timeshare at the price the resale market will bear.

When you read the Timeshares Daily article, you’ll see that on the subject of selling timeshare, Corcoran’s advice from a real estate perspective is for timeshare owners to use an online timeshare resales company. You will also see that it is exactly the same advice I gave in the article.

Timeshare resales sell at market value - the price the buying market is willing to pay for the product. But pricing your timeshare resale at fair market value is only half of what it takes to sell your timeshare. You must also get your timeshare resale advertised in front of as many prospective timeshare buyers as possible.

… And that, of course, is where Sell My Timeshare NOW comes in.

To watch the full clip from The Today Show interview, click here to play the video.

I just spent a couple of outstanding days in Breckenridge, Colorado, at the ARDA (American Resort Development Association) Rockies Regional Meeting. The meeting was excellent in several ways, the first being the location. The Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center that hosted the event is a classic Colorado condo-hotel ski resort with ski-in/ski-out access condos.

And of course, there is nothing any better than the chance to spend a few days in the mountains of Colorado. The skies were incredibly blue and the air had that crisp edge of freshness. Sell My Timeshare NOW was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of this very informative meeting, one of a series of ARDA regional meetings in which we have participated as a Gold Sponsor.

If you are not familiar with ARDA, they are the Washington D.C. based professional association that represents the vacation ownership and resort development industries. In 2009, ARDA celebrates 40 years of service to timeshare owners and the timeshare industry. Their membership is nearly 1,000 strong including privately held companies, publicly traded companies, and international corporations involved in the vacation ownership industry. ARDA’s membership also includes resort management companies, timeshare owner associations (HOAs), and owners through the ARDA Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC).

The Changing Face of Timeshare Ownership

ARDA Regional Meetings are an important time of learning, exchanging ideas, networking, problem solving, and generally getting things done. One of many topics that was addressed was a very interesting trend in timeshare ownership demographics.

Many people think of timeshare owners as typically falling into the Baby Boomer generation, and in many ways that is still true, although the profile of the new timeshare buyer and timeshare resale buyer includes more and more young couples and individuals all the time. However, there is also another way younger couples are becoming timeshare owners these days and that is through passing down deeded timeshare ownership within families.

This makes for an interesting new dynamic in timeshare ownership and ARDA, as well as the timeshare industry as a whole, is on top of it. Today’s timeshare owner may be a Boomer, a Gen X, Gen Y, Millennium, or Gen Me, meaning that vacation ownership resorts are learning to respond to a variety of generational and cultural issues. It also means that it is an interesting and exciting time to become a timeshare owner.

Be sure you visit The Timeshare Authority next week, when I will be sharing updates about ARDA’s new website www.vacationbetter.org

In 2007, Sell My Timeshare NOW LLC had a record setting year with offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare reaching $274,272,859 by year-end. And in our typically enthusiastic approach to business and life in general here at Sell My Timeshare NOW, we set a target to surpass that total in 2008, despite the struggling economy, high gas prices, and other issues that impact the travel and timeshare industries.

Well, we did it … and it didn’t take us a year.

As Sell My Timeshare NOW entered the Labor Day weekend, offers to buy timeshare and to rent timeshare reached $332,701,702 - that’s a 21 percent gain over year-end figures from ‘07, and there were still 4 months yet to go.

What an amazing year, taking us from record setting to record breaking.

But it’s not about us … it’s all about you.

Five years ago, when our Internet based company was founded, we did so because we knew timeshares offered an excellent opportunity for people to enjoy vacation ownership and to lock-in the price of accommodations, creating a hedge against vacation inflation. But we didn’t see any truly accessible, affordable, easy-to-use ways for timeshare sellers to interact with timeshare buyers and timeshare renters. Thus Sell My Timeshare NOW was born.

Today our outreach is worldwide. Our marketplace is as vast as cyberspace. Anywhere in the world, any time of the day, you can be buying, renting, or selling timeshare that is advertised on Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals help you and your family continue to enjoy time spent together, days away from the routine grind … the relaxation, recreation, and fun you have earned.

Follow this link to read Sell My Timeshare NOW’s complete media release.

The Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List gives you an excellent opportunity to compare two outstanding Florida timeshare resorts, back to back. Yesterday, The Timeshare Authority profiled HOT 100 List timeshare resort number 62 - the Vacation Village at Parkway. Today we are looking at HOT 100 List timeshare resort number 61 - the Westgate Town Center.

Both of these two popular timeshare properties are located in Kissimmee, Florida, which is just to the south of Orlando and perfectly situated for visiting all the Orlando theme parks and attractions, while bypassing much of the local Orlando traffic. Getting to the Westgate Town Center is easy. This Florida timeshare resort is less than 25 miles from the Orlando International Airport. Taxi service from the airport ranges from $43 to $60 or from $25 to $44 for shuttle service. (Since the price of gas fluctuates these days, rates can vary. Visit the ground transportation page for the Orlando International Airport for the latest prices and contact information for transportation providers.)

If you are visiting the Westgate Town Center timeshare resort by car, you will find it easy to reach by taking I-4 West to exit 64B, (that’s the US-192 West/Walt Disney World® exit). The timeshare is only one-quarter mile from this exit.

Once you arrive at the Westgate Town Center timeshare, you may never want to leave - not even to enjoy some of the Florida vacation fun you came to experience. This family-friendly Florida timeshare resort has a fitness room, numerous swimming pools, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, picnic areas, miniature golf, a children’s activity center, and an arcade. While the theme parks are nearby, the resort has so much to offer that it can be a vacation within itself.

Your Westgate Timeshare Villa

The Westgate Town Center offers timeshare villas of all sizes from studios, to 2, 3, and 4-bedroom timeshare units. Most include fully equipped kitchens (kitchenettes in studio units), large-screen TVs, washer and dryers, whirlpool tubs, and balconies or a patio.

According to the floor plans available from Westgate timeshares, your studio unit at Westgate Town Center timeshare includes a queen bed and a sleeper sofa. Two-bedroom timeshare units offer a king bed, 2 double beds, and a queen sleeper sofa. In three-bedroom timeshare units you will have 2 king beds, 2 double beds, and 2 sleeper sofas. And lastly, in the uber-spacious 4-bedroom timeshare units that offer 2522 square feet of living space, you will have 3 king beds, 2 doubles and 3 sleeper sofas - which translates to room enough for 16 people to relax, spread out, and enjoy their holiday time together.

Which Florida Timeshare Resort is Right for You?

The good thing about Florida timeshare is that there are so many of them. But this is also what makes picking one such a challenge. After you look at your needs for space and on-site amenities, you have to consider if you plan to exchange your timeshare unit or visit the same one on a regular basis. Fortunately, the affordable prices of timeshare resales makes it easy for you to buy timeshare or even buy multiple Florida timeshares to enjoy, exchange, or even use as timeshare rentals.

The timeshare resales and timeshare rentals experts at Sell My Timeshare NOW can help you get started today. It is easy to shop the inventory of available Orlando timeshare, Kissimmee timeshare, or timeshares throughout the Sunshine State. The only thing you’ll have to do is pick one!

Vacation Village at Parkway is an ideal timeshare resort for your next trip to sunny Florida. Located in the Orlando-Kissimmee resort area, the Vacation Village at Parkway timeshare is timeshare resort number 62 on the Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 list.

This Florida timeshare is an excellent family vacation destination, conveniently located near all the Orlando attractions that make vacationing so much fun. If you are not familiar with the Orlando area, you may think a Kissimmee timeshare resort is the wrong place to be. However staying in Kissimmee actually puts you in just the right spot for enjoying Disney, SeaWorld and other theme parks, while helping you avoid urban Orlando traffic.

Choose the Way You Enjoy Your Vacation Village at Parkway Florida Timeshare

Timeshare units at Vacation Village at Parkway offer spacious two bedroom lockouts that average 1500 square feet in total space. Décor is West Indies themed to ensure your Florida timeshare gives you that true island feel. At the same time, the luxurious resort provides you a jetted tub, fully equipped kitchen and dining area, entertainment center, and other amenities that make life so comfortable.

In a two-bedroom lockout timeshare, the main suite features a King bed and a sofa bed. The lockout unit offers a Queen bed and a sofa bed. With this much flexibility, it is easy to sleep six to eight people and for multiple couples or family units to share both the fun and the cost of a trip of this favorite timeshare resort. Or you can use a partial unit as a cozy retreat for a honeymoon, romantic getaway, or empty nester’s vacation spot.

And the flexibility of Florida timeshares in the Orlando-Kissimmee vacation area includes not just where you stay, but how you spend your time. You already know that Orlando offers fun for children of all ages, and a perfect way for you to relax and feel like a kid again. But if days spent on the golf course are more your idea of a great vacation, remember that there are hundreds of excellent public, private, and resort golf courses to choose from in Central Florida. Two favorites that are near the Vacation Village at Parkway timeshare are Falcon’s Fire, a Rees Jones signature course and Shingle Creek Golf Club designed and built by the late Dave Harman.

Other choices include museum browsing at The Orlando Science Center, the Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, and the Orlando Museum of Art. For water sports try sport fishing, parasailing, boating, and personal water craft; only the Minneapolis-St. Paul area boasts more lakes than Orlando. You can even turn your Orlando timeshare vacation into a shopping extravaganza at the many upscale malls, discount malls, boutiques, and curio shops the area offers.

Whatever your idea of a great getaway, the odds are a Florida timeshare offers it and there is no better place to enjoy it than in a Vacation Village at Parkway timeshare resale or timeshare rental.

Travel writer Terry Ward has written an excellent article for the Travel Channel. She writes about the way timesharing has changed in recent years and explains a lot about why buying time-shares makes such good vacation sense.

In the article (titled, “Vacation Time-Shares, See More Places, Save More Money,”) Ward says, “Your benefit as a buyer comes not in the property’s appreciating value over time, but in the fact that every year, for a rate that’s fixed when you buy in, you are guaranteed a week or more of vacation time in pretty much your choice of destinations.”

As one of her sources, the writer quotes Kim Kavin, author of The Everything Family Guide to Timeshare, a timeshare book that is especially helpful to new and prospective timeshare buyers. Kavin says, “When you buy a time-share unit, you are essentially buying a financial hedge against vacation inflation, or the rising cost of hotel rooms.”

But Ward wisely doesn’t limit her focus to the purchase of new timeshares only. Instead, she directs much of her article to looking at timeshare resales, and for that information, she turned to Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Buying Timeshares Can be Smart; Buying Resales Timeshares Can be Brilliant

The article advises timeshare buyers that they should understand that buying timeshare can come with “hidden costs.” Ward describes such costs in this way, “Be aware that in addition to the initial outlay of cash to purchase your time-share, you’ll also be responsible for annual maintenance fees ranging from roughly $200 to $600. Other hidden costs can include one-time fees for capital improvements, exchange company fees incurred when you exchange your week for another week, and conversion fees should you choose to convert your week into points for a cruise, airline miles and the like. For time-share owners who opt to finance their purchase, mortgage interest payments can also come into play.”

At Sell My Timeshare NOW, we like to think that such costs are never hidden; that we help timeshare buyers clearly understand what they are purchasing when they buy timeshare resales, so that expenses such as maintenance fees, or possible bills for capital improvements never catch them by surprise.

The Travel Channel article offers helpful information about timeshares and timeshare resales. Follow this link to read the full article, “Vacation Time-Shares, See More Places, Save More Money.” And for answers to all your questions about how to buy, rent, or sell timeshare, call the timeshare resales and timeshare rental specialists at Sell My Timeshare NOW. 877-815-4227, or internationally +1-603-516-0200.